Iran's watermelon exporters in Turkey face dilemma, as business suffers

TEHRAN, Iran, May 25

Trend:

Head of Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce Mehrdad Saadat Dehghan has proposed the watermelon exporters to destroy their cargos in Turkey, since their sales discount there has expired, Trend reports via ILNA.

"Iran has a preferential export agreement with Turkey, according to which, a four-month special discount is applied to watermelons imported from Iran, within December-April each year," said Dehghan.

He emphasized that the Turkey's import tariff has not increased.

“Its import tariff is $300, but the tariff during this four-month period, due to the lack of watermelon harvest season in Turkey and market regulation, the discount for Iran has been set at $200.”

"The closure of land borders due to coronavirus outbreak has caused 20 days to pass since the date of export discount for the current year,” he said.

"We have been in contact with all Turkish officials since the beginning of the issue," he said. "Unfortunately, the Turkish side has stated that importing these cargoes at previous tariffs has not been cost-effective.”

Following up on the issue, the official said the exporters were proposed to destroy their watermelon cargoes.

"This is just a suggestion," he said, adding that the Turkish side said the cargoes can either return to Iran or Turkey will pay the cost for them being eliminated.

Dehghan suggested that the best way would be to bring all cargoes back and sell the goods on the domestic market.

"Last week about six cargoes were returned from Turkey to Iran, and the faith of the remaining cargoes is up for exporters to decide upon," he said.